The field of the invention relates generally to power converters, and more particularly, to single active bridge power converters.
Robust power systems enable supplying power to one or more loads. Such power systems may include combinations of generation, transport, rectification, inversion and conversion of power to supply energy for electronic, optical, mechanical, and/or nuclear applications and loads. When implementing power systems and architectures, practical considerations include cost, size, reliability, and ease of implementation.
At least some power systems include power converters such as alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) converters, DC to DC converters, DC to AC converters, and AC to AC converters. FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a known DC to DC power conversion system 10 that includes a single active bridge converter 11 (i.e., a converter including an H bridge on only one side). Specifically, converter 11 includes a primary side 12 coupled to a secondary side 14 through a transformer 16. Primary side 12 includes an H bridge 20, but secondary side 14 does not include any active components. Accordingly, converter 11 is not bi-directional.
Further, to ensure proper operation of converter 11, transformer 16 is relatively large, resulting in converter 11 having a relatively high cost and a relatively large footprint. Specifically, transformer turn ratios are designed to operate in a buck operation, and do not reflect a voltage ratio between a primary and a secondary side. Accordingly, a comparably large reactive power is absorbed by the transformer, preventing an optimal active/apparent power ratio and requiring a relatively large transformer.